Due to COVID-19, the fashion industry struggled to find ways to showcase their latest collections — an integral part of the buying process for suppliers as well as a traditional touch point for consumers. Our goal was to give KHAITE an edge in breaking through the crowded online fashion landscape by providing their customers with an accessible way to interact with the brand and their new shoe line without ever having to leave home.
With emerging technology ROSE was able to bring KHAITE’s footwear designs into the homes of their customers and industry buyers giving customers a deep visual experience unlike any other fashion brand has been able to accomplish. This experience was the first to use 8th Wall’s inline WebAR functionality. Using WebAR allowed us to build an experience that anyone with a smartphone and internet access can use. Widely-supported and deeply interactive, the WebAR experience highlights the unique details of KHAITE’s footwear designs and offers endless creative freedom for the user to explore. Utilizing photogrammetry to 3D scan the footwear, the designs were made into 3D models with accurate fabric materials and textures, that can be “placed” onto any surface in any environment. One challenge of building this experience was balancing the real-life lighting observed by the phone’s camera with computed lighting that best accentuates the highlights and shadows of the models in the AR scene. To make sure that the materiality and texture of each shoe was accurate we created specific lighting setups to compliment each unique shoe model. The material of each model was a major consideration; a shoe with a soft, quilted insole and white leather straps needed soft, glowing illumination, whereas a black patent leather boot needed bright point lights that played off the glossy reflectivity of the material. The end result was an experience tailored to each model, allowing users to see each one in its best light. Users have the freedom to scale, rotate, and walk around each shoe to examine the details. A small list of influencers and buyers received a printed lookbook, created by Chandelier Creative that paired with the digital experience. Users that had the lookbook could place the augmented reality shoes by scanning images within the printed book, allowing the designs to come to life from 2D to 3D instantaneously. The use of the lookbook and additional WebAR functionality created a more exclusive experience for a subset of users without the need to create two different experiences.
The experience was a big success for KHAITE, resulting in a 400% increase in sales. During a time where most customers aren’t leaving the house, shoe sales for KHAITE were at a high. Users spent on average over 4 minutes interacting with the experience. Additionally, it was featured in Vogue, British Vogue, The New York Times, and Harper’s Bazaar.
